Glen Cove school district did a major fail

The Margaret A. Connolly Elementary School is one of the Glen Cove elementary schools that is the focus of a probe into "testing administration irregularities" in which students were coached on exams, the school superintendent said Thursday. Photo Credit: Newsday File June 8, 2010 / Audrey C. Tiernan

It should not have taken almost five months, inquiries from news reporters and pressure from a crowded room of residents to push Glen Cove's school district into acknowledging allegations that several teachers may have improperly coached elementary school students during last year's standardized tests.

Residents in the unusually close-knit city should have been told sooner about the district's decision to hire an investigator to look into the allegations.

"He said there was a limit to what he could say because he needed to protect the constitutional rights of the children and the teachers involved," Christopoulos said.

As such, she said, the lawyer declined to answer questions including what had triggered the inquiry, how much it would cost, whether children had been questioned and whether parents had been notified.

Residents also wanted to know -- but were unable to find out that evening, Christopoulos said -- how results of the New York State-mandated 2012 math and English language arts tests for grades 3 through 5 compared with earlier district results.

On Thursday -- about an hour before midnight, and apparently in response to inquiries from reporters -- the district posted a statement from school Superintendent Joseph Laria on its website.

"It is with great disappointment that the Glen Cove City School District must report allegations of testing administration irregularities," the statement said, noting that the allegations involved testing at two elementary schools.

"These allegations, if true," the statement said, "represent a grave disservice to the children, families and community of Glen Cove."

On Friday came word that the Nassau district attorney's office had launched an investigation. In addition, the state Education Department said it would send monitors down to ensure that the administration of the 2013 tests -- which are on Tuesday -- goes smoothly.